What Might Have Been
by The Bud
Summary: Starts off with Cyclops recounting his odd family tree and ends otherwise.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, rare reader! I don't own any part of this, and all in as thus, is copy write and registered material for someone else.

Food for thought, I was reading one of Jennifer's vegetarian meal packages and it said "Made with all natural vegetables!". So anyways, what would an unnatural vegetable be? Maybe a green bean that gets plastic surgery to be a carrot, or a piece of corn brought to life in a lab to destroy all man kind? Any who, I decided not to eat it.

What Might Have Been.

I'm laying here next to my wife and sometimes, I think. O.K, lately every blasted night and I wonder why she ever wanted me. I still cannot believe I wake up to her every morning, but not because she is drop dead gorgeous, which she is, but because she's not Jean. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife, I think, but I keep wondering what would have happened if I hadn't lost my first or my second wife, what would life have been like? I can only ponder these things at night while Emma sleeps, because if she knew what was going on in my head every time I see Jean, she'd divorce me, or kill me, and I can't handle another person leaving me.

Maddie, my first wife went insane because I ignored her for the X-Men, and I compared her non stop to the love of my life. Did I mention she also tried to sacrifice our son and she was a clone of Jean, made by Mr. Sinister, so I wouldn't be alone? Things get complicated there, but what happened was that Jean had apparently become a celestial being named Phoenix and later supposedly died, That's how I also first met Emma, she was the one messing with Jean's head that made HER go crazy, Emma wasn't on the good side then, and sometimes I wonder if she is now, the way she looks at every woman around here. So, a few months later, I meet the stunning Madelyne Pryor. She looked like Jean, sounded like Jean and best of all, shared my same aeronautical interests and she knew how I like my coffee. We married and had a child, Nathan, who has a clone of his own, anyways, she named him for her father, Mr. Nathaniel Essex, also known as Mr. Sinister. Then, Jean came back! She hadn't died at all and was found at the bottom of the Hudson in a cocoon, healing from her injuries obtained from space. The Phoenix had found her out there, we were all out there, Jean just was the one in the most trouble as she had to pilot the ship we were on home. Anyways, the Phoenix saved Jean by mimicking her form and healing her at the bottom of a deep river. I was elated to have her back, but Maddie was less than enthralled. After Maddie went insane and became The Goblin Queen, she left me. Jean and I set to raising my son, and she was wonderful! Nathan couldn't have asked for a better caretaker. We weren't married, not yet, not for many years down the road, she felt she was too young, having just turned twenty-one. Then came a big shock, my son Nathan had gotten sick, and it turned out Jean and I had a daughter, Rachel, from the future, an alternate one Rachel had actually been living at the mansion as a team member for a bit, and looked a lot like Maddie, but we didn't think anything of it, then the bombshell that she was my daughter was dropped.. Jean took her in and even let Rachel call her Mom. That young woman had been through so much in her short life, I hadn't the heart to turn her away, and eventually, I let her call me Dad, and she still does.

After all this still, when Nathan got sick, Rachel took him two thousand years into a future, ours, I'm not sure. There was apparently a cure then. After a lot of turmoil and pain, We found out that my son lived, and even came back to this time, he was old now, older than myself, and he treats my younger children as though they are grandkids instead of half-siblings. He calls himself Cable now, and his clone, the one who released the Legacy virus, his name was Stryfe, so I've got children all over the place, but I secretly always wanted to see Jean's belly swell with my child. I can't understand why I ever left her.

I reach over to feel if my current wife is still next to me, She's not. It's not morning yet by far, so she must have been doing that trick of hers, pretending to sleep, just so she can hear what I'm thinking.. She must not have liked what she overheard and left, psychically masking herself. The sleeping body could have been an illusion the whole time. The last time she pulled this, I found her in bed with Sebastian Shaw, after looking for her the whole night.

I forgave her for that, and we even went on to have my son, Alex.. But where is she now? She's cut off our link again, something she only does when she doesn't want me to find her. I'm going to go find her before the kids wake up.

There's Jean, against Emma's wishes, I took her on as the schools counselor. Emma thought it was just so I could have Jean around, but it wasn't. She's such a mother hen, she was perfect for the job.

"What are you doing here so late?" I ask. I'm trying not to look at her pregnant belly, knowing whose it is, is lust too hard for me. I never gave her children when we were together, I put my work first over her needs, and I cheated on her, but why did she have to go for that oafish bruit, Logan?

"One of your students called me about three hours ago having nightmares. I believe you know Megan?" Jean replied as I watch a little foot sweep across her stomach. Even clothed, her belly appears alive with her unborn child squirming each and every which way.

Megan is my eldest daughter with Emma. "Megan, honey, Why didn't you call your mother, or me?" I request of her because Megan's been entering an age where she won't tell Emma nor I anything.

"I tried to Dad! Mom's mind was blocked and so was yours! I thought you two were… you know… Busy" She cried as she defended herself. Megan must have thought she was in deep trouble the way the tears flowed. "Please don't tell Mom!"

"I won't baby!" I promise her. "What was the nightmare about that was so bad you had to wake Ms. Grey?"

"I dreamed that you and Mom were fighting, and she left. Then she went to live with some monster, and I and the other kids were left all alone. You left too! Then somebody came and made us live in a tank somewhere while he took blood and body parts from us! No one came to find us!" She blubbered.

I stroke my daughter's platinum blond hair as I comfort her. "Shh, Baby! I'll always be there for you! No one is going to hurt you!" And she believes me. " Now head back to bed and I'll be back in ten minutes, O.K? I'm going to take Ms. Grey home."

"But it was so real! Mom even handed us over to that creep!" Megan wailed.

"It's over now, sweetheart!" Jean said as she hugged the little girl. "That dream was just that. Would you rather come with your dad and me to my house if you're still worried?"

"No ma'am, I'm too tired. I just want to go to sleep." So Megan went to bed. I wasn't leaving her alone, not with all the X-Men just down the hall. I knew that she was safe.

"Thank you for coming down here." I tell Jean sincerely. "I know things haven't been the best between us the past few years."

"You're welcome, Scott. And things are fine between us, it's just Emma and the rest of the X-Men that seem to have the problems" She jokes.

"How long until the baby's born?" I ask her, genuinely concerned. We reach my car and I have to help her sit down. Emma refused all help when she was pregnant, she about hated my guts for ruining her figure but a little cosmetic surgery fixed that.

"The BABIES are due in about a month Scott." She informs me.

"There's more than one?" I ask stunned. How come nobody ever told me that?

"You were told, dozens of times. Remember? Besides, twins run like mad in my family, You know that!" She teases me for my forgetfulness. The truth is I had forgotten that her mother is a twin, and her niece and nephew are twins, along with several other relatives.

"And clones too!" I quip back as I pull into her driveway. "Why did you walk down to the mansion?" I ask.

"I didn't, Scott. I flew, silly." She tells me as I walk her to her door. I used to love the way she called my name. When we made love, it sounded like an unearthly song that riveted through my body. Lately, Emma though, just lies there, maybe, if she's feeling kind, she'll moan.

We enter the door and she announces to Logan that she's home and our hearts both sink. On the couch she inherited from her grandmother is her husband Logan, and my wife Emma, completely sweaty, and except the white satin sheet covering them, absolutely naked. He's asleep and she's just glaring at Jean and I.

Jean turns away with her hand to her mouth, and I recall when she saw me like this. How much it must have hurt, and I only just understand. This is the second time I've caught Emma being unfaithful, but that's just one person twice, this is the second husband Jean's caught, but both with the same person.

"Emma! Why are you doing this?" I yell. "Shaw wasn't enough? Are you doing this to hurt me or Jean?" There's no reason for ether, but Emma never has been rational. She must have planted that nightmare in Megan's head, just so she could be here and do this.

"What do you care, Scott? Maybe you'll get what you want out of this." She hisses.

"Will some people shut up? I'm trying to sleep here!" Logan growls as he wakes up. "What the fu…?" Logan yelps as he pulls away from Emma. "What in the hell is going on here?" Logan looks around wildly, trying to figure out what's going on here. The last thing he remembers is falling asleep watching T.V., and now he's naked with somebody that's not his wife on top of him. "Jeannie! I swear I don't know what's happened!" He pleads to his wife.

"Of course you do, Logan." Emma purrs as she snuggles back up to him "We've been doing this for months!"

"So, every time a students called me because of a bad dream or an odd memory, it's been you?" Jean growls still turned around, attempting to dry her face. "Logan? Is what she says true? Have you been having sex with her?"

"No Jeannie! I ain't some people in this room!" Logan barks at her as he stands with the sheet around himself, to regain his composure. " I swear I fell asleep watching T.V.! I don't know how this happened!" He tries to walk over to her, to put is arms around her, but he's thrown back by a telekinetic bolt.

"I think that Beast can prove this beyond doubt." Scott said as he keeps his own tears back. "No matter what this turns out as Emma, I'm filing for divorce in the morning. This has just gone too far."

"Agreed, Summers." She mocks back at him. "I'll get every penny I can out of you."

Back at The Lab at 3am.

"Jean, there is sufficient DNA evidence here to back up Emma's story, but as you tell me, no memory of this buried anywhere in Logan's mind, do you know what this could mean?" Beast questions intently.

"Yes. She ether controlled his mind and raped him, or had already wiped his mind so I wouldn't know." Jean replied as she ignored the nagging Braxton- Hix contraction gnawing at her back and belly. "Have you talked this over with Scott or Logan?"

"Logan, yes, he's trying to act like this doesn't phase him, but I know he's worried. Scott, no, We might need somebody there to act as counsel for him. Which of those scenarios do you find more plausible Jean? "

"After Scott did this to me the first time, I really don't know, but I'm going in to talk to Logan."

Beast is concerned for all parties involved. Jean in her delicate state, Logan, because of all he stands to lose, Scott, because of everything he's went through with and for Emma, and Emma, because if she's sick enough to do this, she doesn't need to be in normal society. Beast has loved Emma from afar for years, and just to comprehend what has happened this night cuts him to his very soul. He goes in to speak with Emma.

"Why did you do this?" He demands as he enters the MedLab room that she's staying in. He's seen all sorts of people do all sorts of things for all kinds of reasons, but this has got to be among the worse by far.

"You mean the affair? I over heard Jean talking about what a magnificent lover Logan was and I had to find out for myself. She was right." Emma coyly said as she leaned back on her bed.

"Why do all Scott's wives and girlfriends have to go insane?" Beast wonders to himself. "You know you can't fool me. I know what you did to Logan, I've seen what he does to people in the throws of passion." That was information he kept to himself, he has stitched a few people up just from him giving C.P.R., Logan's fangs are sharp enough to slice open flesh if he's not careful. Jean herself has had them on the inside of her mouth twice, and lip once and has had to be treated for puncture wounds to the neck three times. Emma shows none of it.

"He didn't want to leave marks." She alleged to him. "We are always careful so that no one would ever know."

"So how did you get caught this time?" He asks. "You must have wanted to get caught." He says as the thought sinks in.

"Look, Hank, I just wanted to make Scott jealous and I took things to far." She breaks down and tells Beast.

"Why Logan?" He inquires, half wondering why not him. "Oh," He answers his own question. "Because that way you get Jean too." He sighs as he pulls out a vial of liquid that will knock her literally quite out. "So Logan was just an innocent victim in your twisted little mind games." He fills the syringe and plunges it into her arm. "You go to sleep now, when you wake up, we'll have another telepath here to start getting you better."

Logan walks down the hall of the MedLab, holding both sides of his head trying to understand what's happened here and finds Scott doing the same. Scott has just come from talking with Jean and Beast, and has discovered how sick his wife's perversion was.

"Logan, I'm sorry for what my wife has done to you." Scott starts to speak. He doesn't know how to talk to Logan, most of their conversations end or begin in fights. And now that Logan has Jean, it makes being peaceable especially hard.

"Save it. I'll be alright." He gruffly says. "Jeannie and I'll get through this."

"Why do all my wives go crazy?" Scott asks half jokingly.

"Because you compare everybody to Jean. They've got a pretty tough standard to keep up to." Logan replies as he tries to grin.

"I guess you're right, Logan. That's your problem now." Scott says as the two walk towards the smell of Jean brewing coffee. "You think she remembers how I like it?"

"I'm sure she does." Logan breathes heavily. "I hate it that way! Sometimes she makes it your way out of habit, sometimes just to be mean. All that milk and sugar? I'll take it black and thick any day."

This whole jointed family has much to do to heal, but it will happen. Beast watches everything going on and wonders how Logan's going to do with having to see Emma so often, or how Scott's going to do watching Jean raise her children and how many times he'll have to fix each of them up as they interact with each other.

End?


	2. Drowning

So, I don't own this, Do you? Alright then, stay sitting, shut up and keep reading.

Drowning.

"I never was one good with my emotions, or the Id, but lately, every time I try to think, or speak, or sleep, or pretty much anything else, I can feel the unrelenting sadness creep into my soul until it wells up, consuming me, almost as a celestial song." She tells me with something almost approaching a half grin. "The only reason I can find to live is smoking and maybe, If I feel up to it, drinking enough to forget me."

She looks down at the floor, knowing full well I can see through her. She's trying not to cry, she's trying to hide her tear-distorted face behind her bottle blonde hair. She's trying to cover up the pain she carries inside from all she feels she's done, and, maybe, if one were to think towards such, what's been done to her.

"I know it's not easy for Scott to deal with me." She sighs with her elbows resting on her knees. "I know I've issues with Jean and Logan. I know I'm not the mothering type my children need, nor what my husband fantasizes about, but why do I have to be what other people think I should be?" I'm not sure if she's asking me the question or posing it to herself.

"I've always craved power, like when the Phoenix used me for such a short time, my toes curl thinking about it. Everything I could have done, everything I thought of doing, it was the ultimate high, I could ignore the nagging bits of me still there. And Scott, being the leader of the "Mighty X-Men", until I found out he only held that post because Xaiver felt sorry for the twit, he made me wet every time I even saw his picture." She laughed, just slightly. "Now, I don't care who he's off banging."

"And…" I ask. "Who do you think that is?" My blue and furry paws point and rest on my lips. I'm trying to maintain my professionalism, but I'm a doctor, I've treated her for all of this. If she wanted to talk, she should have gone to Jean, but rightfully so, Jean felt she was too close to this case, seeing as how part of Emma's problem involved dissolving Jean's first marriage and involves an affair in her second.

"Don't play with me!" Emma hisses. "You know who. Like those childeren she carries is even Logan's" Emma has been in my care for about two weeks. What I can see is a deeply hurt and abused person. While I suspect she was damaged to start with, Scott and his constant lies couldn't have done anything but make her worse.

"You feel that they've been doing this awhile?" I ask her deeply concerned for her mental state. "Do you feel that Scott's constant neglect of your mental well being justifies what you did to Logan?"

She becomes morose again as she sinks one cheek back down on her hand again. "I guess, in a way, yes. But for me to have used Logan the way I did, No." She looks away from me and I know something further is troubling her deeply. I think I know what it is. I've seen that look on her before, the first time, just after Scott and Jean called things quits. I know she's done something only a desperate soul could have done and a terrible deed done by only the most broken and loneliest of people.

"Oh… I see. Are you sure?" I close my eyes and try to take this in.

"Not for another couple days." She tells me quietly. "I don't want it. Meg's getting older, Alex is getting more independent, Scott won't even tell me the truth about what he ate for lunch. I… I saw Jean enjoying her new happiness so much and had a momentary lapse. I tried to think of how to hurt Scott, to hurt her as much as I've been hurt. Logan was the best way." She looks at me sideways. "That, or you."

"You know I've a place in my heart for you, Emma, but Scott is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I could never reciprocate." I whisper back as I feel my soul shred. "What do you want me to do? Jean is just days from delivery, do you want me to tell Logan of the possibility of another close on his heels? That won't make him want you."

"I don't want Logan to want me, not anymore. I wanted Scott to want me, I wanted him to need me. I just want to feel loved." She pleads at me with dewy eyes.

"After everything Scott went through to be with you, you don't think he loved you?" I look at her skeptically.

"I'd believed he did if he'd have paid more attention to me. Maybe if he did something other than fight, maybe if he'd get off that blasted computer and did something with me!" She shouts at me, becoming agitated enough that I stick her with something that calms her almost instantly and puts her to sleep in five minutes.

"I'm going to get a blood sample, Emma." I tell her as she slumps back down. "We'll know in the morning if you've reason for concern." I've lied to her, I'll know in an hour, I just need the rest of the time to figure out what to say.


End file.
